Progressive transmission



Oct. 4, 1955 w. N WASSON 2,719,441

PROGRESSIVE TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 16. 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR.

ATTU RN EYE 06L 4, w, SSO 2,719,441

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS ON 0 7 4 I N VEN TOR.

Oct. 4, 1955 w. N. WASSON 2,719,441

PROGRESSIVE ssssssssss ON ATTD RN EYE Oct. 4, 1955 w. N. WASSON2,719,441

PROGRESSIVE TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 16. 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 (I) MINVENTOR. Mam 5 /V. M9550.

H ATTEI R N EYE Oct. 4, 1955 w. N. WASSON 2,719,441

PROGRESSIVE TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 16. 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 &

INVENTOR. MWNE /V M ssa/v.

ATTD RN EYS United States Patent PROGRESSIVE TRANSMISSION WayneN.';-Wasson,jRegina,'N. Mex.

Application-Februa y.16,;1950;.Serial Noa144,47.0

1 Claim. -(l." 14=.-750) ,This invention relates .to a, transmission.unit; in which .a ;.driving. shaft ,operating .at a, constant speedv.actuates a -.:driven ,s ha-ft ,at-a.plurality,,of :difierent speeds and.also :inJeYeI e, andfinparticular thisjinvention relates .to a.transrnission unit Qactuatcdby acommon .t'rip lever .or .valve wherebya ,train .df spee'd reducing elements actiuated by .individualgclutchelements arev pro gressively, op-

..ciency.;itjis desirable to. pr0vide manual controlfor a.transmis'sionof the .automatic type. 'With;;this'thought .in .i'nindvthisinventionnconternplates va'transmis'sion hav- -,jng.a,driving,,'shaft and a ;d'riven shaft with a plurality'of units between 'thejdrivingand'driverrshaftsand with each nunitproyided with'.independentlyactuatedclutch elements .avhiithare, controlledby. a, common lever orvalve.

The object of this invention. is,therefore, to providemeans,forincorporating. a plurality. of speed changing units -wi'thprogressively actuated clutch elements in a ,common housing whereintheunits are'progressivelycontrolled ,Another object of :the invention istoprovide-a ;progres'sively actuated ,transmission in which fthlHStJlOfidS.fgcluteh, elementstherein are equalized.

An ftherhobject of the inventioniis to prov,ide a progres'sive ly.actuated transmission ,.unit in which a reverse unit is provided.

Y'A'fiuither object of'the invention is:to provide aprogressiv'e ly.actuated transmission unit which isof a. simple .and economicalconstruction.

.With these and other objects and advantages in view the inventionembodies a "driving shaft extended-through the center of a. cylindricalhousing withatubular'driven fshaftformed with a plurality .'of;separatedelements in .whi'ch .;;the "driven fshaft elements are driven 11t-hrough.P1anetary gears 'withiridividual jclutch elements inthe gears andwithclutch elementsgiforconnecting-"thesections. ofthefshaft and'forconnecting the" planetary" gears to the ..'sha.ft, and in whichhydraulic means is provided for actuating the clutch elements.

fither, features andadvantages ofthe 'inven'tion .will appear from thefollowing. description taken in connec- --tion with thedrawings wherein'Figure l is a longitudinal sec-tionth-rough' the driving -end ofthetransmission' 'showing thex-reverse gear :v'vith -its associatedelutch-elementsandalso \showing the low gear=: speed reduction :unit,said -section being taken: :on Hu l- 1' of Figure 2.

Z ,7 19,44 1 Patented Oct. 4, 1 955 Figure 'lais a similar viewShOWlIlg, fifiQl'ltillllflliQlLOf .thetran mis io i additional apee hredciggfilem t e i nsaidsee iq be n ake lo n lw a ff iigure;2. 5 f.Figurei-2fis a cross .sectionthroughlthe transmission being taken on line 22of Figure 31a.

Eigure i3" is ,a detail showing a construction similar ,to that .shown.in'Figure ,'2 illustrating gears of difierent sizes forobtainingadifierent speed reduction.

*Figure 4 is a sectionsimilar tothat shown in Figure; illustrating thereverse gear assembly.

Figurefi, is. a cross sectiongthrough the transmissiqmbeing taken online 5-5 ,OflFigure" 1a.

Figure '6 is a similar section showing the clutch actuating rods beingtaken on line .6-6 ofFigurefl and.,.wi'th parts broken away.

"Figure 7 is a longitu'dinal section similar'tothat "shown in F igures 1and la; illustrating the. clutch, elements and hydrauliccylin'dersbywhich the'clutch elements in'the intermediate-part of thetransmission are actuated.

"Eigure"8j is a sim'ilar,section showing one of the, alternate-sets ofcams and levers for driving direct.

figure 9, isna 'deta'il illustrating a clutch actuating cylinder foractuating 'clutch collars of the intermediate units'of-the-transmission.

Figure 10 is a detail illustrating a clutch element actuatjng-cylinder-foractuating clutches to connect the gear carryin g discs to.the" sections of'thejdriven, shaft.

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic yiew jillustrating the hydraulic systems foroperating-the ;clutch ,elements .with

, the connecting -tubesend with a commongcontrol valve connected; to thetubes.

Referring now to-the drawings wherein likereference characters denotecorresponding parts the ,progressive ;-transmission of this invention 1includes h a "driving I shaft "1 0 journale'd'dn'afhousing 11 with;acentrally disposed supporting shaft 12*journaled in an opening 13 in the-rality of hydraulic cylinders T15 and fi6"for actuating clutch collars*17; as "illustrated in Figure "7 and con- '--trolled-' by a mastervalve 18 as illustrated in 'Figure' l 1.

The *driving shaft 10 extends; into' the housing to the -point 51-9 anda plurali y :of cylindrical .Sections 39,21, and $22; -=whieh--arejournaled onthe supporting shaft "12 are posit-ioned betweenthe end ofthe, driving shaft and "the-end 23- of ayd-riven shaft 24 whichisijournaled; in,a

*bearingls -in an end-platef26 intheopposite end of "the "secured to theend'gif the housing by bolts27 andga cover ;-plate"28 is--provided toenclose the bearing 25. The

--supporting-' shaft E 12- is journaledin the driven, shaft '24 by-abearing 29. i

The driving end-of-Qthe ;sha;ftisjournaled in, ,a bearing 25A'ina-similarcover plate =26A which'is'secured to the-end ofthe housingbybolts 27-A- and 'the bearing is provided with a-coverplateflSA.

Each o'f the transmission :units is providedwith a .clutch collarsimilar to the collar 17- and each clutch collar is pro- -vided withmnannulapgroove-fiO-andan annular rib 3 1.

Eachunit-isalso provided-with-a-set of hydraulic cylinders-=-as'=indicated -by the numerals 15 -an'd- 1'6-and a connecting :zrod32=extended between pistons 33 and 34 of the cylinders isz-pivotally:connected -to a clutchlever 35 -bya pin 36and nthepolutclrilevendsprovided with a yoke i37 having:pins=38 tin' the ends ofgarms thereof,-twhich extend into the annular groovesxSO vof' thercollars. "Theilevers'35 are --pivotally :mounted ibytpins 39gontbracketsI40 extendeddownwardly 'rtfrom tringsi41; in the -.h0using'11-. and :suspended byplates e42 andi43.

' Eauhwof ethercylinderselS is'provided witha connection such as theconnection 244*that extends to a-port 45-of the xacontrol 'valvei'18,and zalso a connection -"46--that extends 3 to a cylinder 47 of the nextunit, the cylinder 47 being similar to the cylinder 15. The cylinder 47is also provided with a connection 48 which extends to the cylinder 49of the next unit.

The valve 18 is provided with a pressure connection 50 and with thevalve positioned whereby a passage 51 thereof connects the pressureconnection 50 to the port 45 and pressure is applied to the end of thecylinder 15 for driving the piston 33 inwardly and as the piston passesover the port 52 of the connection 46 the fluid under pressure passesthrough the connection 46 to the cylinder 47.

When the piston of the cylinder 47 passes over the port of theconnection 48 the fluid under pressure passes through the cylinder 47and connection 48 to the next cylinder 49 and when the piston of thecylinder 49 passes over the port of a connection 53 the pressure passeson to the next unit.

When the position of the control valve 18 is reversed whereby fluidunder pressure passes from the connection 50 through a passage 54 to aconnection 55 the fluid enters the cylinder 16 forcing the piston 34therein to the position shown in Figure 11 and as the piston passes overthe port 56 of a connection 57 the pressure passes to the cylinder 58 ofthe next unit, which is similar to the cylinder 16, and when the pistonof the cylinder 58 passes over the port of a connection 59 fluid passesto the next cylinder 60. This cycle of operations is continuedthroughout the transmis-- sion unit.

Each underdrive unit of the transmission is also provided with a clutchcollar 61 having an annular groove 62 therein and these collars areactuated by clutch levers 63 having pins 64 in the arms of a yoke on theend thereof which extend into the groove 62, and the levers arepivotally mounted by pins 65 on brackets 66 with the ends thereofpivotally connected to piston rods 67 of pistons 68 by pins 69.

These clutches are actuated by cylinders 70, which are connected asillustrated in Figure 11 with one end of each cylinder connected by aconnection 71 to the connection 46 and when the piston 33 passes overthe port 52 so that pressure is supplied to the connection 46 the fluidunder pressure passes through the connection 71 to one end of thecylinder 70 moving the piston 68 therein toward the opposite end, andthereby actuating the clutch lever 63 so that teeth 72 on the end of theclutch collar 61 mesh with teeth 73 of a disc 74 upon which gears 75 arecarried.

The cylinder 70 is also provided with a connection 76 that extends tothe connection 57 so that when the piston 34 is actuated to the positionshown in Figure 11 pressure is applied to the opposite side of thepiston 68 throwing the clutch collar to the opposite position in whichthe teeth 72 and 73 are disengaged. Each unit is provided with acylinder similar to the cylinder and a clutch collar similar to thecollar 61 whereby as soon as the clutch collars 17 are actuated by thecylinder similar to the cylinders 15 and 16 the clutch collars 61 arealso actuated because the intermediate sections 20, 21 and 22 rotatewith the gear carrying discs positioned thereon. The control valve 18 isalso provided with a return connection 77 for the egress tberethrough offluid.

The clutch units are provided at the abuting ends of the cylindricalsections 20, 21 and 22 and friction washers I 78 are provided betweenthe ends of the sections. Each section is provided with a head 79 thatis fixedly mounted on the end of one sleeve, a flange 80 that is fixedlymounted on the end of the abuting sleeve, intermediate rings 81 and 82,an outer ring 83 and a cylinder 84 with a flange 85. Each unit is alsoprovided with a disc similar to the disc 74 and the discs 74 areprovided with hubs 87 that extend from one side and a row of teeth 73that extend from the opposite side. These discs are fixedly mountedthrough the hubs thereof on the intermediate sections 20, 21 and 22, andalso on the driven shaft 24.

T e outer peripheral surface of the head 79 is provided with splines 89,and the rings 81 and 82 are provided with 4 splines 90 and 91,respectively that mesh with the splines 89 of the head.

The flange 80 is provided with friction grooves 92 and 93, the ring 82is provided with corresponding meshing grooves 94 and similar grooves 95of the ring 81 mesh with grooves 96 of the flange 85. A flange 97 on theopposite end of the ring 83 is provided with grooves 98 that mesh withthe grooves 93 of the flange 80 and grooves 99 in the opposite side ofthe flange 97 mesh with similar grooves 100 in a web 101 of the ring 84.The web 101 of the ring 84 is also provided with a flange 102, the outersurface of which is provided with teeth 103 that mesh with gears 75which are journaled on pins 105 in the discs 74 and that also mesh withthe teeth of a ring gear 106 that is held stationary in the housing 11by bolts 107.

The intermediate rings 81 and 82 are alternately actuated tofrictionally engage the flange 85 of the outer ring 83, or the flange80, respectively whereby the head 79 rotates either the outer cylinder84 or the flange 80 which, in turn, rotates the section 22 on thesupporting shaft 12.

With the intermediate ring 82 in frictional contact with the flange 80the head 79 rotates the section 22 at the same speed and with the ring81 in frictional contact with the cylinder 84 the head 79 rotates thesection 22 through the planetary gears whereby the proportionate speedof the section 22 in relation to that of the section 21 is dependentupon the sizes of the gears.

When the rings 82 are in frictional contact with the flanges 80, wherebythe gears are not used the cylinders 70 are actuated to disengage theteeth of the clutch collar 61 from the teeth of the disc 74 whereby theplanetary gear assembly remains stationary.

The intermediate rings 81 and 82 are actuated by the ribs 31 of theclutch collars 17, as illustrated in Figure 7 wherein cams 108 onradially disposed rods 109 which are slidably mounted in the head arepositioned to lock the rings and the cams are actuated through the rodsby levers 110 pivotally mounted in slots 111 by pins 112 and the leversare actuated by rollers 113 on arms 114 which are positioned to beengaged by the ribs 31 as the collars 17 slide longitudinally on theshaft sections.

The arms 114 are pivotally connected to the levers 110 by pins 115 andthe arms are held by adjusting screws 116 which are provided with locknuts 117.

The cam and lever assemblies are provided in sets wherein the cams arealternated with the cams of one set shown in Figure 7 and with the camsand levers of the other set positioned as shown in Figure 8.

In Figure 7 the cam 108 is positioned to engage the roller 118 on thering 83 and also a roller 119 on the ring 81. This set of cams forcesthe ring 81 longitudinally of the shaft and into frictional engagementwith the flange 85 whereby the cylinder 84 is rotated with the head 79and the transmission is actuated through the planetary gears.

In the design illustrated in Figure 8 a cam 120 is positioned to engagea stationary roller 121 on the ring 83 and also a roller 122 on the ring82 so that with these cams actuated the intermediate ring 82 is movedinto frictional engagement with the flange 80 so that the section 22 isrotated with the section 21 without using the planetary gears. In thisdesign the cams 126 are carried by rods 123 that are slidably mounted inthe head 79 and the rods are actuated by levers 124 similar to thelevers 110, the levers being pivotally mounted in the head by pins 125and having rollers 126 carried by arms 127 which are pivotally mountedon the levers by pins 128 and held with adjusting screws 129. With thisset of cams the rollers 126 are positioned to be engaged by the rib 31when the clutch collar is shifted by the piston 33 Whereas the set ofcams 108 are actuated by the ribs 31 with the clutch collar actuated bythe piston 34 in the cylinder 16. The rollers 126 are, therefore,positioned in a plane spaced from that of the rollers 113 as shown indotted lines in Figures 7 and 8 and each set of rollers is positioned tobe engaged by the rib 31 of its clutch collar.

amen

In the, design illustrated in Figure 10, the levers for actuating theforward and reverse ,"drives are "illustrated nwhcrein a setpf rollers'130, similar tojtherollers' 126 are spaced from another set asindicated by; the; dotted lines 131 and a rib 132.9n acollar133 ispositioned to extend =-between the two sets of rollers in the neutralposition, and w hen the clutch collar'133' is actuateiby a clutch lever134 which lever-134 is actuated independently of "theprog-ressiyehydraulic, control system'for the underdrive units to selectively obtainforward or reverse drivethrop'gh said,

units smth'atthe ribi132 actuatesthe ro'1lers'130 the cams are actuatedby the rods 135 throughthe -levers136 to move heiatetmedia e rin 37.simil to the n 81 into frictional engagement with the flange138 of thecylinder 139 therebyactuating reversegears- 140 that are rotatably.

era s iih rq ll r ll ..th reamsfla tuate-lth intermediat ant er-. 5asimila .tether ngiti san sthe duvenshat is rotated in the samedirection as that of the driving shaft and at full speed ahead, the ring150 being in frictional engagement with the flange 151, similar to theflange 80.

In the design illustrated in Figure 3 the gears or planet pinions 152,similar to the gears 75 are carried by discs of the cylindrical sectionsof the shaft and these gears mesh with teeth 153 of a flange 154 similarto the flange 102 of the port 45 so that pressure canbeapplied.totheendof th ylinder .-0 etn ingithe P st n.

. n s as e p n m es ver e PQ tSQLt heZfluid under pressure,passesdthrop'gh f'the connect Qm 46 to the cylinder47 .and' after. 1thepiston, of the, yyli iderjihm v passed. over the port of the,connectionf48,. ithetfluidftheu passes through the cylinder47 andconnection '48.. to. ,the next succeeding cylinder 49.'Then,.whenjthe,piston of t yl n p e vert me pQrtofa-connee iou'53 thepr ssu e .pa s s on q henextuni and this yeleofpperationis repeated.

After the control yalve,"18 has.been.reverseiifiilidlurider I Pre surepas s from.th ,eonned ion'flllhmueh am a 554 and. theflfluid enters the,cylinder. 16-10. forcemiston 34 J th p sitiqmshowniin i he y neriifirasses v Figure' .11. .lwheniihe ipistpnfi t e. portcf, a.connection-Satire i pa se -tot en xt ,cyllirider. 15aud'thiscycleofpperat ft con ect on "46landj r u hlhe. onne onl'il-When...the, iston 4%;isa tuion is ontin ed; throughoutthetransmission.assemhly.

he l che are aetua ibxvey inder. 70; sothat whe the piston'j33 passesover jthqport SlprrgssurQ-ismppplied e'jfluidnnder, pressure passes e wt0 JtheP stQn shawnin Fig re. 1 1;.pres ure. is appliedito 'the pppositeside, of the .piston. 68..to ,thereby ,throw.,the

u ch. co l r t the opposi e positioninwhich-the .teethl u 3.a. j disengaed- .By al e nate y-a tuatinaitheintermed ate.xi g fihand"82,the"flange85 of the outer ring 83 is engaged or the the cylinder 84and teeth 155 of an outer ring gear 156 similar to the ring 106. Thering gear 156 is fixedly mounted in a sun gear 157 similar to thehousing 11 by screws 158. These parts are similar to corresponding partsof the intermediate units except that the pinions are of a larger size.

It will be understood, therefore, that each unit may contain gears of adifferent size so that one unit may drive with one speed and anotherwith another and with the sizes of the planetary gears graduallyincreasing the speed will gradually progress from slow to full speedahead.

It will also be understood that the collars 17 of each unit are providedwith cylinders similar to the cylinders 15 and 16 for actuating theclutch levers and the rings 81 and 82 are also provided with camssimilar to the cams 108 and 120, and these cams are actuated by leverssimilar to the levers 110 and 124, all as illustrated in Figures 7 and8. These parts are omitted from the open spaces between the units forthe purpose of illustration.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that there has been provided atransmission unit wherein a driving shaft and a driven shaft have aplurality of assemblies therebetween with independently actuated clutchelements which can be controlled by a common lever or valve. A pluralityof speed changing mechanisms are provided in a common housing withprogressively actuated clutch elements so that the mechanisms can beprogressively controlled. Further, the thrust loads of clutch elementsare equalized and there is provided a reversing unit or assembly. In usethe shaft 10 may be driven by any suitable source of supply and asupporting shaft 12 is journaled in an opening 13 in the end of thedriving shaft. Hydraulic cylinders 15 and 16 are provided for actuatingthe clutch collar 17 and cylindrical sections 20, 21 and 22 arejournaled on the supporting shaft 12. The plate 26 is secured to thehousing and the supporting shaft 12 is journaled in the driven shaft 24by a bearing 29. There is provided a clutch collar for each of thetransmission mechanisms and a connecting rod 32 extends between thepistons 33 and 34 of the cylinders. A pressure connection 50 is providedfor the valve 18 so that by properly positioning the valve there will beprovided a connection to flange is engaged so that the head 79 rotatesthe outer cylinder 84 or the flange 80 to thereby rotate the section 22on the shaft 12. When the ring 82 frictionally engages the flange 80,the head 79 rotates the section 22 at constant speed and the head 79rotates the section 22 when the ring 81 frictionally engages thecylinder 84, this being accomplished by the planetary gears whichprovide a proportional speed of the section 22 relative to the section21.

As shown in Figure 7 the cam 108 engages the roller 118 and the ring 81frictionally engages the flange so that the cylinder 84 is rotated withthe head 79 so that the transmission is energized through the planetarygears. The rollers 126 are adapted to be engaged by the rib 31 when theclutch collar is shifted by the piston 33 so that the set of cams 108are acauted by the ribs 31 when the clutch collar is actuated by thepiston 34 in the cylinder 16.

The structure shown in Figure 10 shows the means for actuating theforward and reverse drive so that when the clutch collar 133 is actuatedby the lever 134, the rib 132 actuates the rollers and the cams areactuated by the rods 135 through the levers 136 to move the ring 137into engagement with the flange 138 of the cylinder 139. When the collar133 is actuated the rib 132 raises the rollers 131 and the cams actuatethe intermediate ring which frictionally engages the flange 151. Thus,it will be seen that there has been provided a transmission whereby thedriving shaft operating at a constant speed actuates the driven shaft ata plurality of different speeds and also in reverse.

Any suitable number of units can be combined in one transmission housingand the gears can increase or decrease in size as is necessary.Referring in detail to Figure 11, there is shown the control valve 18which is arranged so that fluid is supplied to cylinder 16 through theconduit 55 so that the piston 34 uncovers the port 56 and fluid underpressure will pass through to the next cylinder and this cycle will becompleted until the required speed is desired, at which time the valve18 will close. Thus, the valves 18 will be held open only until thefirst unit is actuated so that the vehicle is started in low gear. Or,by holding the lever with the valve open a longer period of time untilthe fluid reaches the subsequent unit, the next gear or the intermediategear is operated so that the clutches will be actuated by the secondcylinder. Then, by holding the valve open for a longer period of time,or until the fluid reaches the cylinder of the next unit, the clutchesof the next speed unit will be actuated. Simultaneously, as

the fluid under pressure passes from one unit to another it also passesthrough the cylinder 70 which actuates the 'clutch collar 71 to engageor disengage the teeth 72 and 73 so that Whenever a unit is not used theplanetary gears of this unit are inoperative. Thus, the transmission maybe used to obtain substantially any speed desired, and also to drive thevehicle in reverse.

What is claimed is:

In a progressive transmission, the combination which comprises a driveshaft, a driven shaft aligned with the drive shaft and spaced therefrom,an auxiliary shaft extended into the ends of the drive and drivenshafts, intermediate cylindrical shaft sections journaled on saidauxiliary shaft and positioned between the ends of the drive and drivenshafts, a housing in which said shafts are journaled, disc like headsfixedly mounted on the ends of the cylindrical shaft sections andshafts, gear rings having frictional gripping surfaces splined to theperipheral surfaces of the heads, cylinders with flanges in the endspositioned over the said rings, flanges positioned on the ends ofadjoining shaft sections with friction gripping surfaces on the facesthereof, cams positioned to urge the rings positioned on the heads intofrictional gripping action with the flange positioned on an adjoiningshaft section and also into friction gripping relation with a cylinder,cams positioned between the rings carried by the head, planetary gears,said cams being divided into sets with one set positioned to actuate thering that coacts with the flange on the adjoining shaft section and theother set positioned to actuate the ring that frictionally engages theflange of the cylinder that coacts with the planetary gears which arerotatably mounted on a disc fixable to said adjoining shaft section forchanging the speed of the driven shaft, clutch collars positioned on theshaft, levers actuated by the clutch collars and positioned to actuatethe cams, and hydraulic cylinders positioned to actuate the said clutchcollars to operate either set of cams said hydraulic cylinders beingoperable to progressively actuate said clutch collars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS686,786 Upton Nov. 19, 1901 1,159,018 Hall NOV. 2, 1915 1,594,239 BriaisJuly 27, 1926 i,672,868 Brown et al June 12, 1928 l,792,()93 Holmes Feb.10, 1931 2,052,815 \Vilsing Sept. 1, 1936 2,094,449 Forichon Sept. 28,1937 2,395,459 Carnagua Feb. 26, 1946 2,426,063 Stevens Aug. 19, 19472,472,788 Burrus June 14, 1949 2,599,632

Hindmarch June 10, 1952

